Contingency Plan
by Goldenbrook15
Summary: With all of the precautions Batman took to hide his identity, would he really overlook the fact that if they take off his mask everyone will know who he is?


**Disclaimer: I do not own Batman (it should he obvious) or any variation of it.**

 **This story is written for your (and my) enjoyment. I am not earning anything from it and the world does not benefit with or without it being out there. That said, on with the story!**

 **Contingency Plan**

Summary:

 _With all of the precautions Batman took to hide his identity, would he really overlook the fact that if they take off his mask everyone will know who he is?_

 **0~o~0**

Bruce groaned as he slowly drifted back into consciousness. His arms and legs were cramped and forced into awkward positions. His wrists had been forced behind his back and tied to what felt like a pipe. His knees protested from being in contact with the hard cement floor for so long.

"Wakey wakey Batman!"

Blinking and trying to force his pounding headache away Bruce scowled as he recognized the voice. He craned his neck up so he could see his captor more clearly, forcing down a flinch as he found the Joker's white face inches from his own.

Joker cackled and jumped back, grinning. "What took you so long Batsy! Did you . . . hit your head too hard?"

At his own words Joker was set off on another wave of insane laughter. Bruce's frown deepened as he jerked his arms in an attempt to get free. The sharp spikes along his arms were for more then decoration, but it seemed as if Joker had gotten smarter. The ropes had been tied in such a way that the spikes couldn't get to them.

"What do you want, Joker?!" Bruce growled, glaring at the brightly colored clown.

"Who? Me?" Joker gestured to himself flamboyantly, his grin still firmly in place, "Oh, no, no, no! You have it all _wrong_ Batsy! I'm not doing this for me," he grabbed onto a cloth which had been draped over another object, hiding it except for a small hole in the front, and grinned as he yanked it off, revealing a large camera, "This is for our adoring fans!"

The red light on the side showed that it had been recording, and most likely broadcasting, the entire time he had been awake.

Eyes widening Bruce felt a growl slip past his throat as he yanked at his binds again.

Joker turned to Bruce with a gleeful smile on his face, "Smile for the camera, Batsy!"

 **0~o~0**

Gordon balled his shaking hands into fists as we watched the TV. All around him his other officers were having a similar reaction. No doubt all of Gotham was receiving this transmission.

"Do we know where they are?" Gordon asked, but the officers near him shook their heads in the negative.

"The transmission signal is blocked, we can't trace it," Officer Dawns said as she frantically tapped away at the computer in front of her.

 _If Batman were there he would have already done it, impossible or not_ , Gordon thought with a scowl. There was nothing that they could do to help the vigilante.

 _"What do you want, Joker?!"_ Batman's familiar growl was both comforting and worrying. What _was_ the Joker thinking when he did this? What was he trying to accomplish?

 _"Who? Me?"_ Joker spun around and gestured to himself. Gordon felt his nails dig into the palms of his hands in annoyance. He hated feeling helpless, _"Oh, no, no, no! You have it all_ wrong _Batsy! I'm not doing this for me,"_ Joker vanished beyond the screen and there was a flutter of fabric which blocked the screen for a second before it became clear again, _"This is for our adoring fans!"_

Batman's eyes widened slightly and an angered growl slipped past his lips. Gordon ground his teeth together and decided that doing _something_ was better then doing nothing.

"Jackson, Connors, take you teams and search all of the abandoned warehouses you know of that might be a Joker hideout on the east side of Gotham," he ground out and both officers snapped to attention, "Cassidy, Potter, you take the left side," his eyes hardened, "I'll keep you informed."

All four officers nodded and hurried out of the room. Gordon never took his eyes off the screen. He had a suspicion on what the Joker was planning, and he knew it wasn't going to be good. Every criminal in Gotham wanted to know who was under the mask of the vigilante, and to tell the truth, most of the civilians did too, but he knew that if they were to discover who he really was then they would be forced to arrest him, public outcry or not.

The camera focused in on Batman, _"Smile for the camera, Batsy! They are about to see your true face!"_

Joker came back on screen, as did his two lackeys who grabbed the struggling Batman and forced him to stay still.

 _"My, my, you really don't want this, do you?"_ Joker cackled as he grabbed the top of the mask. Turning the clown grinned at the camera, _"Say hello to your_ hero _Gotham!"_

In one swift movement the mask was pulled back. In reaction to suddenly having his head free to move the Batman ducked his head so that all that could be seen was his hair.

A very full, very red head of hair.

Gordon felt his eyes widen in surprise. The man that he worked with all the time was a red head? He . . . hadn't been expecting it.

It seemed that the Joker was shocked as well, blinking several times as if he couldn't believe that the _Dark Knight_ had such _bright hair_. Then he broke into insane laughter again.

 _"I-I never took you for a_ ginger, _Batsy!"_ Joker gasped, doubled over with giggles. Even his henchmen seemed stunned as they looked down on the man they held in place.

Suddenly Joker's eyes lit up even brighter, _"I wonder what other secrets you were hiding under that mask of yours, Batsy! Let's just see, shall we?"_

With a firm, unyielding grip, Joker grabbed the red hair and yanked the Batman's head up, revealing his face to all of Gotham.

The first thing that Gordon noticed (besides the red hair) was just how _green_ the man's eyes were; they were almost the color of emeralds. The second was just how _young_ he was. He couldn't be more than thirty at the most, much younger then he had expected.

Pain and shock registered in the green eyes before they steeled with determination, _"Your going to regret that, Joker."_

It was strange for Gordon to hear Batman's voice come from someone who looked so different than he had imagined.

Joker grinned wider, _"And who is going to make me 'regret it' if your all tied up?"_

 _"Who said I was tied."_

The Joker paused, but it was enough time for the young man to rip his head away from the clowns grasp, pull his arms out from the thugs grasp, and shoot his grappling gun at the ceiling.

The Batman sailed upward partway and let go, coming down hard on the startled clown.

 _"Ack!"_ Joker shouted as his head hit the ground, scowling, _"No fair! How did you get free?!"_

Batman only growled and dodged out of the way of one of the Joker's thugs who had come to help their boss. He spun, grabbed the man's outstretched arm as his punch missed the young man, and in an impressive show of strength threw him into Joker who had just gotten to his feet. The clown went down again with another grunt of pain as the thug, who was twice his size and weight, landed on him.

The second thug receive and flying kick to the head when he charged at the red-head, sending him careening into a wall and knocking himself out. The other thug and the Joker seemed to be in too much pain to get up at the moment.

Batman landed on the floor, his cape pooling around him as he took out a pare of cuffs from under his cloak and clipped them onto the criminals, _"I don't like your games Joker,"_ he walked over to the camera which was, miraculously, still on, _"And I_ really _don't like it when someone tries to find out who I am."_ He reached up and pulled the cowl back over his face, white eyes once more narrowed into a glare and red hair hidden, _"Shows over, Joker, you failed."_

The screen switched off, leaving the police department in complete silence. Gordon felt as if his heart was weighted down by stones. They had a face that they could put to the vigilante, now, which meant that they would have to arrest him.

"Commissioner, whatever was blocking the signal is gone. They are at 458 Starlight Avenue," Officer Dawns reported, working frantically at her computer.

Giving her a nod Gordon lifted his communicator to his mouth, "Potter, Connors, and Jackson, pick up the Joker and his thugs from 458 Starlight Avenue. Cassidy, report back here, we might need you and your team."

Turning off his communicator he spoke to Detective Yin, who was standing next to him, "Run a scan on every face in the city. I want to know," he closed his eyes slightly, " _We need_ to know who the Batman is. Find the match and bring it too me as fast as you can."

"Yes, sir," she said dutifully as she made her way to her work station, ready to do as he said.

With a sigh Gordon made his way back to his office and looked out his window. Was this the end of Batman? Would they no longer had the caped crusader to help them at night just because one criminal was determined to show the world who he was?

For some reason Gordon still doubted. The Batman's last words before the transmission shut off came back to him.

 _"Show's over, Joker, you failed."_

No . . . it couldn't be. No one was that paranoid . . .

Except for the Batman.

 **0~o~0**

Alfred watched, expressionless, as the Batmobile rumbled into the cave and shut off, the top opening so that his ward could jump out.

"Have an eventful night, have we?" Alfred asked as Bruce pulled his cowl back.

Bruce sighed, "You could say that," he ruffled his hair for a moment and scowled, "I hate having red hair."

Alfred raised an eye brow, "Last I recall you rather liked red hair, Master Bruce," he commented mildly as he watched his ward apply the 'un-sticking' jell and pull the bright wig off.

"On other people Alfred," Bruce muttered and winced, rubbing the top of his head, _"Not_ on me."

Alfred's lips twitched slightly in amusement, "It worked, though, didn't it Master Bruce?"

Bruce shrugged in grudging admiration, "Yes, it works. The Joker looked like he was going to have a heart attack for a moment after my mask came off," he glanced sideways at his butler as he made his way to the side sink where he could pull out his green colored eye contacts, "I swear, though, you are more paranoid then me when it comes to my disguise. And why did you make me wear _red_ hair?"

"Red is a color as far from black as I could get without going into blond. If someone suspected you were wearing a wig then they would assume that you would be the opposite color of the one you had on, but in this case red doesn't really have an opposite," Alfred said as he picked up the tray he had brought down, "Perhaps, Master Bruce, some of that paranoia might rub off and go into keeping your social life active? As you see, the disguise under the disguise seemed to work."

Bruce shook his head and he accepted the bowl of warm soup Alfred handed him, "Fine. I'll go out more. Just don't expect me to wake up before ten. I'm a creature of the night and don't like to be up more then I have to in the day."

"Of course, Master Bruce," Alfred said, smiling slightly, "I can't seem get you up earlier than eleven anyway."

". . . thanks Alfred."

"For what, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked, glancing at the younger man as he cleaned up the tray and bowl.

Bruce smiled slightly, "For being paranoid enough to make me wear a disguise under the mask. It helped."

"You're welcome, sir."

 **0~o~0**

"You can't find anything on him, nothing at all?" Gordon asked Detective Yin looking through the report.

Yin shook her head negatively, "There is no one by that description and build in Gotham or around it. He simply doesn't exist," she smiled ruefully, "and there aren't all that many red-heads with green eyes out there in the first place to choose from."

Gordon nodded and dismissed her, looking through the file that she had handed him. A slight smile made its way onto his face.

"Definitely paranoid all right," he muttered, flipping through possible pictures.

"Blame a friend of mine," the growling voice of the Batman came from behind him. Gordon had been expecting it for a while now, but it still made him jump. He turned around so that he could face the darkly dressed man.

"A friend?" Gordon asked.

The Batman dipped his head, "Hard to believe that I have friends who are more paranoid then me?" he answered the question with another question.

Gordon smirked slightly, "A bit, yes, especially the friend part."

"Believe it. Most of my paranoia comes from them," Batman growled, shrugging his shoulders.

Nodding slightly Gordon leaned back in his cushioned chair as he watched the Batman perch unwaveringly on the window seal, "So . . . red hair?"

"Not my idea."

"Of course. Your friend."

There was a pause of silence for several moments before Gordon decided it was a little too quiet and opened one of his drawers, pulling out a small file. He handed it to the Dark Knight who accepted it without question.

"Burglary of a local art museum," Gordon began, back to business, "the object stolen was a large cat statue made of clear crystal, about fifteen inches tall. There are no fingerprints and the cameras were destroyed, so we have no idea what the burglar looks like."

Batman opened the file and flipped through what little information that they had before closing it and tucking it under his cape, "I'll look into it."

Gordon turned away to organize his desk for a moment, "That's all I ask," when he turned back around there was no one at the window and Gordon shook his head, "One day I'll figure out how he does that."

 **0~o~0**

 **This is a one-shot. There will not be a sequel. I made the mistake once of yielding and creating a multi-chapter story out of a one-shot and it's still not done.**

 **Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading it just as much as I enjoyed writing it. If anyone wants to take this idea and go further with it go right ahead, I would love to read it.**

 **If you have time, please leave a review.**


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